Chennai
Capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu
Residents of Chennai, by all accounts, are miserable and anxious. The city’s main reservoirs are dry, depleted by the failure of successive monsoons to provide replenishing rains. The shortfall has crippled the piped distribution network, which is now meeting just half of typical demand through a mix of secondary sources: desalinated water, groundwater, and the impoundments from nearby stone quarries. Even that supply is far from adequate. Piped water reaches households once a week or less. Tanker trucks, an expensive alternative, dole out water by the bucketful to desperate crowds.
Reservoirs in Parched Chennai, City of Millions, Are Dry. Can Better Forecasting Avert Future Crises?
The megacity in southern India, as it waits for the monsoon, is not the first to run short of water. It won’t be the last.
A Torrent of Water and Concrete Imperil Chennai’s IT Boom
Ecological distress imperials Chennai’s IT corridor.
Chennai’s Security Tied to Cleaning Up Its Water
Water supply and quality motivate Tamil Nadu’s most dynamic social movements.
In City Prone to Drought, Chennai’s Water Packagers Rush In
Millions of residents rely on immense bottled water sector.
Tamil Nadu Infographics
Explore the wider Indian issues influencing the situation in Chennai & Tamil Nadu in Circle of Blue’s award-winning Choke Point: India series.
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A 21ST CENTURY RECKONING
The conflicting demand for water, food, and energy is the defining challenge of our century. Global Choke Point, a collaboration between Circle of Blue and the Wilson Center, explores the peril and promise with frontline reporting, data, and policy expertise.
